Sarah Cotton, mother of two Oak Bay girls slain on Christmas Day 2017, was not in court on the first day of accused Andrew Berry’s trial, however, her friend Trisha Lees, and Sarah’s partner, Scott Elliott, were present. (Keri Coles/News staff)

Trial begins for Vancouver Island father charged in Christmas Day deaths of two daughters

Andrew Berry pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in deaths of two daughters

The double murder trial for the Oak Bay father accused in the deaths of his two young daughters on Christmas Day 2017, begins Tuesday morning at the Vancouver Law Courts.

I am at the Vancouver Law Courts today for the start of Andrew Berry’s trial. Berry is the Oak Bay father charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of his daughters Chloe, 6, and Aubrey, 4, on Christmas Day 2017. More to come. @VictoriaNews#yyj#oakbaypic.twitter.com/sXlVCBibR3

Andrew Berry has pleaded not guilty to two charges of second-degree murder in the deaths of his two daughters, four-year-old Aubrey Berry and six-year-old Chloe Berry, who were found dead in his apartment on Christmas Day in 2017.

Berry’s trial, being held in the Supreme Court in Vancouver, B.C., begins with Crown’s opening Tuesday.

The proceedings will be broadcast to a courtroom in the Victoria Courthouse.

On Christmas Day 2017, sisters Aubrey and Chloe Berry were in the care of their father at his apartment in Oak Bay, B.C. The children were supposed to go home to their mother’s house on Christmas afternoon but didn’t arrive.

Oak Bay police responded to Berry’s apartment and found the bodies of the two girls.

Berry was found in the apartment with them, suffering from injuries, and was taken to hospital. He was arrested and charged upon his release from the hospital.